Nesting And Productivity Of Bald Eagles

Annual number of breeding pairs, fledged eaglets, and reproductive success increased during the study but below reproductive success of healthy bald eagle populations.

An expansive collection of papers and articles from internationally recognized bald eagle experts. Presented is a complete portrait of the status and ecology of the bald eagle in Alaska.A collection of papers and articles from international bald eagle experts, which present a complete portrait of the status and ecology of the bald eagle in Alaska. Myriad topics include culture, biology, population history and status, conservation and management, the Alaskan habitat from the northern rainforest to the Aleutian Islands, attitudes from diverse groups from the Tlingit to bounty hunters, along with sound scientific data.

"This Technical Note series on wildlife is designed to provide a literature review and summary of current knowledge pertaining to endangered and other wildlife species occurring on public lands"--Forward.

The Bald Eagle is a comprehensive description of the morphology, behavior, flight patterns, hunting, migration, nesting, development, and growth of bald eagles.

Bayesian inference facilitated structured interpretation of a nonreplicated, experience-based survey of potential nesting habitat for bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) along the five Great Lakes shorelines. We developed a pattern recognition (PATREC) model of our aerial search image with six habitat attributes: (a) tree cover, (b) proximity and (c) type/amount of human disturbance, (d) potential foraging habitat/shoreline irregularity, and suitable trees for (e) perching and (f) nesting. Tree cover greater than 10 percent, human disturbance more than 0.8 km away, a ratio of total to linear shoreline distance greater than 2.0, and suitable perch and nest trees were prerequisite for good eagle habitat (having sufficient physical attributes for bald eagle nesting). The estimated probability of good habitat was high (96 percent) when all attributes were optimal, and nonexistent (0 percent) when none of the model attributes were present. Of the 117 active bald eagle nests along the Great Lakes shorelines in 1992, 82 percent were in habitat classified as good. While our PATREC model provides a method for consistent interpretation of subjective surveyor experience, it also facilitates future management of bald eagle nesting habitat along Great Lakes shorelines by providing insight into the number, type, and relative importance of key habitat attributes. This practical application of Bayesian inference demonstrates the technique's advantages for effectively incorporating available expertise, detailing model development processes, enabling exploratory simulations, and facilitating long-term ecosystem monitoring.